Hospitality, refugee camps and contested relations : the case of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, 1948–2000s

Abstract

Hospitality provides a lens for understanding spatial relations of power and ethics. It seeks to unpack these relations through an examination of everyday practices, in which relations between the guest and host subjects are often contested. Refugee camps are a site where the dynamics of hospitality, ethical relations, the constitution of power and governance of migrants can be studied. As a case study I have examined Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Palestinian refugees have lived in Lebanon since 1948, and in that time the relationship between the guests and assembled hosts has transformed. I will look at the role of the state and UN as hosts for the refugees, and the ways in which subject and spatial relations changed as Palestinian resistance groups vied for control of the camps. I will analyse the spatial boundaries of the camps, the refugees’ relationship to these spaces, their hosts and how together they have shaped the collective refugee identity. I used two ethnographic studies on the Shatila refugee camp to study this case. Together, these sources provide insight into the lived experience of refugees in Lebanon, through their everyday lived experience and relations with the camp hosts.